The story

Tropical Storm Hanna sped toward the southeastern coast of the U.S. on Friday, and forecasters predicted that the storm would strengthen slightly before reaching land Saturday.

As of 11 p.m. ET, Hanna was about 140 miles south of Wilmington, North Carolina, carrying maximum sustained winds near 70 mph with higher gusts, just below hurricane status of 74 mph, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. View a map of Hanna's projected path

The storm, which had spent several days meandering around the southern Bahamas, was moving north at a fast clip of about 20 mph, and forecasters expected it to speed up even more Saturday before turning northeast. Read full article »